Social media are works of user-created video, audio, text or multimedia that are published and shared in a social environment, such as a blog, wiki or video hosting site.
Social media circulates through web interaction between people. The web is becoming exceedingly available for more than just facebook and twitter. “It transform[s] people from content consumers into content producers.” User-generated content is produced and shared one a huge scale that is changing the world as we know it.
Social Media has multiple components; concept, media, and social interface components. The concept component deals with the information itself. Information is repeated and spread at astronomical levels, which can prove to be beneficial or deadly. The media component is just that, media. It can be physical, electronic, or verbal.
The social interface comes from people connecting with others and sharing information.
Almost all components of society are adhering to the facets of social media and networking. Not only are the effects extremely beneficial, but it’s mostly free.
Social web:
When people interact with others over the world wide web, they do so over the social web. People that use websites like myspace, facebook, and Twitter are interacting in a manner called “People Focus.” Individual users will create a profile for others to see, and are able to connect with other users.
Websites like photobucket, Flickr, and Youtube allow people to socialize in a way called “Hobby Focus.” These kinds of sites allow users to take their hobby, whether it be fashion, photography, or videos, and put it online for others to see.
Very rarely is there face-to-face contact through the social web, although some social networking sites allow users to search for other users that are in the same area and encourage them to meet in person.
Social Web and social media both utilize web 2.0 to help users interact with each other.
Effects of social media:
There are both positive and negative effects of social media today. People from across the world are meeting and getting married, long lost friends are keeping in touch, businesses and schools are finding potential customers and students. People are able to communicate and stay connected in ways never thought possible. Schools, government, businesses, even people in general are becoming more productive. More people are finding jobs that are better suited to their skills, the list goes on and on.
Although these are outstanding qualities of social media, there are major pitfalls. People are becoming addicted to the internet. There is also a blog on just about everything, from building a bomb to planting a rose garden. Some things that should not be said are being shared across the world and in bold letters. Unless a site is protected, which most aren’t, anyone can look at a profile on a number of networking sites and find where a person lives, or their phone number and horrible things have happened, just ask Chris Hansen’s “To Catch a Predator,” abc is not there to save everyone.
Social Media can lead to good and bad, not that things didn’t happen before, it’s just much easier with the help of the internet.
Social Media defined:
Social web:
Effects of social media:
Social Media Surveys
Works Cited:
www.capilanou.ca/help/active-cms/glossary.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media